


Guys' Night Out (Plus Toph)

by chronicAngel



Series: Avatar College AU [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Backstory, Gen, POV Third Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-06
Updated: 2016-10-06
Packaged: 2018-08-19 20:25:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8223734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chronicAngel/pseuds/chronicAngel
Summary: The guys all go to Sokka's dorm for a movie night when things don't go as planned.





	

She isn't exactly sure when Sokka became a sobbing mess on the couch while watching a kids' movie (funnily enough, he was the one who insisted it would be great), but she does know that, despite being blind, she was the first person who noticed it. She's pretty sure that Aang was the last. They all try comforting him in their various ways, with Aang grinning at him like a mildly insensitive dope and insisting that everything's fine, Zuko repeatedly asking what's wrong and saying that they don't need to watch the movie if it's upsetting him that much, and Toph just sitting back happily and occasionally patting his back. She doesn't want him to be upset, sure, but if he's going to be a baby and turn on the waterworks because a character dies in a cartoon, she's not about to feel sorry for him.

Eventually, he stops being such a sniveling mess, wiping at the streaks under his eyes with a dignity that she almost admires so soon after being in tears. He dismisses Zuko's comforting hand and she can almost hear the tension in the room. Eventually, he cracks a joke that she doesn't even catch the punchline to, but she laughs anyway both because she almost feels bad for him and because it's hard not to laugh when you hear Aang's ridiculous chuckle. The laughs in the room are comforting, it's comforting to know that Sokka's capable of laughing this shortly after a total meltdown when she knows that she wouldn't be, but they die quickly, withering away to an awkward energy even more potent than that of before.

"Thanks for trying to make me feel better, guys... Even if you sort of panicked and didn't do very well." She laughs again, but the other two don't seem as comfortable with the joke, and they return to silence quickly, which seems to prompt Sokka to keep talking, "That scene when his brother runs back into the building just... got to me. My mom died that way." The air in the room is serious, and despite her blindness, she stares at his face with more intensity than either of their seeing friends.

She is the first person to break the silence after he says it, raising a brow and crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly as though she is arguing with him and not about to ask him a question-- almost request something from him. "Well, go on! We're all eager to hear your depressing story, Sokka."

She feels Zuko elbow her in the side before Sokka starts to speak, taking a deep breath as if he is not sure that he'll be able to say it, as if it isn't just a story and like it is actually hurting him to think about. She wonders if maybe it really does hurt him, and if she's being insensitive. She decides not to focus on it too much longer. "I was ten. I don't even remember how the fire started anymore, I just... remember it burning. The whole house was burning down in front of us, and when my mom got home from work, she didn't see Katara and I so she ran in to save us. She... never came back out..."

"So what? We all have sob stories!"

Once again, Toph finds herself being the insensitive one.

"Listen Sokka, I love you like a brother, I really do; you're annoying, sure, and your jokes are cheesy, yes, and fine, you can be a bit of a dummy at times, but you're still like the older brother that I never had and never wanted. And so, as your honorary younger sister, even though you have one already, I think that it's my job to knock some sense into you from time to time." She punches him in the shoulder to demonstrate her point, and he makes a noise and rubs at the spot. "It's very sad that you lost your mom, and I'm sorry that you had to go through that, but you aren't the only person in this room who had a rough time when they were a kid so you need to get over yourself."

Aang and Zuko are staring her down, she can tell, but she doesn't let their looks cut her off. "My parents have been treating me like a particularly fragile set of china since I was born, and why, because I can't see? I'm blind, not a porcelain doll! I've spent my life behind locked doors, cut away from everyone and everything in an attempt to protect me, but in the end, it just felt like my own parents were shutting me out because... because they were embarrassed. I was their dirty little secret, the Beifongs' daughter that nobody knew about, and I have to take extra care to ditch the bodyguards when we go out into the town just to have these guys' nights with you. You may have lost your mom, but at least you didn't lose your freedom. So just-- stop acting so tortured, like you're the only one who has problems."

It's only after she stops running her mouth that she realizes that that's the most emotion she's ever showed in front of them, the most she's ever revealed about herself, and, wow, is she crying? No she is not. Her eyes are sweating is all. They are sweating rapidly and it stings and she has to swipe at the streaks on her own tears which she would have made fun of someone else for exhibiting.

Zuko is the next person to speak up, directed at Sokka, voice soft. "I lost my mom, too..." He doesn't say much more than that, but Toph can hear the dip in his voice as his head falls and she can almost hear the sound of his fingers twiddling around each other as he silently debates if he should say more.

"My parents used to fight a lot." The desire to comfort Sokka, or maybe just to open up to someone, seems to win out over Zuko's secretive nature, and everyone listens intently to his story for fear that if they don't he'll never be willing to repeat it. This is a rare show of trust from him. "It was about everything, really; money, time, work, my sister, me, sometimes it felt like they weren't really fighting about anything and were just in the mood to argue so they started a screaming match just 'cause. Azula liked to watch them, used to get a kick out of the insults our father would shout at our mother, but I usually ran away or cried until my uncle or my mom came to comfort me... One night, when it was really bad, my mom came in to comfort me in the middle of the night, after I'd already gone to bed... I never saw Mom again."

"My mom's dead too!" Aang pipes in, perhaps just a bit too chipper and eager to offer the information. "My dad too. My mom died in childbirth, and my dad died in a car accident trying to make it to see my first breath of real air; funny, because his rushing to see it is the reason that he never got to. I don't really know much about them, but I know that my dad used to work at the same orphanage that I live in now, so a lot of the other guys tell me stories about how cool he was. He was a pretty funny guy, from what I gathered!" He's grinning, despite the topic at hand, and she wonders if he's genuinely that optimistic and weird, or if he's putting on a brave face while dying on the inside. She supposes that both are pretty stupid.

It's silent for a long while. She isn't sure if it's an awkward silence or a comfortable one yet, but she's noticed that no one is tense, at least, not like they were before. It's quiet until Zuko offers to make tea, and Toph politely declines, saying she already has to put up with enough tea ceremonies at home, but Aang happily accepts and Sokka makes a witty comment with no discernible answer.

When he comes back with tea for the three of them, Sokka accepts and Aang practically grins out a thank you. They try to watch the movie again, but only get about ten minutes in before the door unlocks and reveals Katara and Suki, both wearing make-up and laughing at an unheard joke.


End file.
